Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) is going to increase the premium facility for those traveling between Kharghar to BKC. Service will be available on this route every half an hour from next week. This will be the new route of premium bus. Presently 60 BEST premium buses are plying in Mumbai. These services run between Thane-BKC, Airport Express, Bandra-BKC, Andheri (East) and Gundavali Metro Station to BKC. BEST is going to get 40 more premium buses soon. BEST will have 200 premium buses by the end of this year.
Best’s premium services are available through the ‘chalo’ mobile app. The passenger will have to reserve the seat. Only as many passengers will ride in the bus as bookings are done. There are very few stops in the service. After downloading the ‘chalo’ app, an option of premium bus service appears in it. After tapping it, from-to, bus schedule and seat booking options appear. Passengers can book a seat for Rs 50 for the all-day route and Rs 205 for the express route. The booking ID received after seat reservation has to be validated during the journey.
Lokesh Chandra, General Manager said, “A new route is about to start for the best premium service. The new buses will also increase the frequency on the existing routes. There is an airport express somewhere in an hour, and somewhere in 40 minutes there is a bus. It will be done for half an hour.”
Special offer for daily passengers
Premium bus ticket rates are higher than normal BEST bus but offers are also available for regular passengers. For example, if going from Chowpatty Wilson College to International Airport, the seat will be booked for Rs 155. If this route is regular and you take the offer, then only Rs 115 will have to be spent. In this way, BEST has given offers on all routes.
Safety Features The specialty of this service
In future, this app based service will have a feature called ‘Home Safe’ which will be related to the safety of the passengers. After boarding the bus, the location of the passenger will be traced in the control room according to the time of reaching the destination. Feedback will be taken from the control room after the passenger reaches home. This feedback will be taken in view of the safety of the passengers. If the passenger does not respond, a call will be made to the control room.
